News

Annual Baseball Canada Awards

Congratulations to all the winners from the Annual Baseball Canada Awards ceremony in Charlottetown this past weekend.  Two awards are coming back to BC.

Lionel Ruhr Elite Coach of the Year Award – Shawn Schaefer (BC)

The Lionel Ruhr Elite Coach of the Year Award is awarded to acknowledge outstanding leadership and guidance as a coach demonstrated by an individual.

An integral piece of the coaching staff of gold medal winning Team BC at the Baseball Canada Cup, Coach Schaefer took an active role with the team’s outfielders and hitters. 2014 was a busy year for Shawn as he began a position with Baseball BC and also helped coach Douglas College to its best ever conference record. A well-rounded coach, Shawn worked with the Douglas College pitchers making sure they were prepared for every outing. When he wasn’t coaching, Shawn also played a key role in helping the Langley Senior Blaze to a National Championship as a pitcher with the club.

Dick Willis Memorial Award for Umpire of the Year – Rhonda Pauls (BC)

The Dick Willis Memorial Award recognizes Canada’s official of the year for their outstanding contribution and umpiring of the game of baseball.

Rhonda has enjoyed a tremendous 15-year career as an umpire that was capped in 2014 by working her first ever internationally sanctioned event when she travelled to Japan for the sixth edition of the IBAF Women’s Baseball World Cup. Rhonda is a veteran of many BC Provincial, Western Canadian and Baseball Canada Championships that also includes many stints as Umpire Supervisor. Rhonda has also earned praise over the years for her work as an umpire mentor and countless hours devoted to helping young umpires. She is truly an asset in her province.

Baseball Canada also honoured Ian Clays and John Munro as recipients of Volunteer of the Year and Grassroots Coach of the Year, respectively for their tremendous contributions to baseball on Prince Edward Island.